Discovery
by TeaNSympathy
Summary: While Seth and Leonard help their new boss organize her office, information about their old boss comes to light.


Kate certainly didn't need any help organizing her new office, but the knowledge of that in no way deterred Seth and Leonard from offering assistance. Driven equally by their desire to be supportive and their desire to explore the hidden corners of the Chief of the Criminal Divisions's office, they showed up bright and early on moving day and proceeded to carry boxes, unpack boxes, and offer unsolicited tips on furniture moving. Kate was torn between appreciation and irritation, but, figuring that as a supervisor it was an opportunity to build an effective managerial relationship, allowed them to handle her prized possessions and place everything in exactly the wrong location. There would be time later to fix the bookshelf that Leonard was arranging solely by size with no regard to alphabetization or year of publication; time to push the packages of rainbow post-its to the exact upper left corner of the desk rather than in the middle where Seth had left it.

"Do you want this closer to the window?" Leonard asks, gesturing toward the tall jade plant. The rest had gone with Roger, but he'd left her this one, along with a few terse words of advice about managing subordinates.

"No, right there will be fine. Thank you."

"Where do you want this?" Kate cringes as Seth picks up her Lego Washington Monument by the top.

"Please put that down before it-" the top breaks off in Seth's hand as the bottom clatters onto the floor and splits apart- "breaks," she finishes sadly.

"Sorry, sorry! It's ok; I'll get it all put back together." Seth is instantly down on the floor picking up the scattered Legos. "Wow, that's a lot of pieces. "

"223 to be exact," Kate sighs, rubbing her temples and trying to utilize the 4-7-8 breathing technique she and Sandra had worked on in their last abbreviated meditation session.

"Hey – what's this?" Seth has reached under the desk in pursuit of a few runaway Legos and has pulled out, along with the blocks, a dusty and dog-eared snapshot. He peers at it curiously. "Is that…Jill Carlan?"

He holds up the picture so Kate and Leonard can see it. It is indeed Jill Carlan. The photo was clearly taken at Yankee Stadium. The federal public defender smiles into the camera, one hand shading her eyes from the sun. Her blonde hair flows loose over her shoulders and she wears a Yankees jersey. Her face is relaxed and happy and its not an expression any of them have ever seen on her, certainly not in a courtroom.

"It is! Why would Roger have a picture of Jill in his office?"

Brown eyes and blue eyes bore into Seth's with identical disdain. He gets it.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh. Seriously? They're dating? Oh my God! This is big! How long?"

Kate shrugs.

"A while. Months. Not exactly sure. You knew, too?" she asks Leonard.

He nods. "Oh yeah. For ages."

"I can't believe you both knew and you didn't tell me! That is so wrong! How did you find out?"

Kate looks to Leonard, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, Leonard. How did you find out? And not tell me?"

"Well, it's not like you told me either! It was the smell."

"Excuse me?"

"The smell! Sometime last spring, around the time he started acting weirdly happy, I noticed that he smelled kind of different. Definitely a girly smell, sort of vanilla spice, something like that. So I figured he was seeing someone. For a while I thought it might be Rebecca in Asset Forfeiture, but then I realized she's a Chanel No. 5 woman. Very different. Then one day I walked by Jill in court and it was the same smell. And it all made sense."

"That is weird, dude. And also creepy."

"Nah. It's sensual."

"Seth is correct on this." Kate observes. "Also, I would like this conversation to end two minutes ago. Shall we finish up here?"

"Not so fast!" Seth objects. "How did you know?"

Kate sighs, surrendering to a few more minutes of unproductivity.

"OK, fine. It was the pen."

"The pen?" Leonard eyes her quizzically.

"Remember, he had that engraved gold fountain pen on his desk? I think it was a prize from law school. Anyway, he wouldn't let anyone touch it. He bit Celia's head off once just for looking at it too closely. So, one day he and Jill were meeting in here and I saw her pick it up and sign something with it. And he didn't say a word. He actually looked happy about it. And I just knew."

"Huh." Seth is still digesting the information. He shakes his head. "I can't believe you guys held out on me all this time. You certainly know how to keep secrets."

"We certainly do," Leonard agrees. "Kate especially." He directs a searching gaze in Kate's direction. Kate, thinking uncomfortably about one particular secret involving one particular federal public defender which she has no desire to share, changes the subject.

"Let's call it a day. I can finish up the rest tomorrow. Thanks for the help. As your boss, let me buy you a drink. Can I have that, please?"

She holds out her hand and Seth places the picture in her palm. As they file out of the office, she slips it carefully into the pocket of her blazer. She'll figure out a tactful way to return it to Roger later on.


End file.
